RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as carboplatin and gemcitabine, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Thalidomide may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking blood flow to the tumor. Giving carboplatin and gemcitabine together with thalidomide before surgery may make the tumor smaller and reduce the amount of normal tissue that needs to be removed.

PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving carboplatin and gemcitabine together with thalidomide works in treating patients who are undergoing surgery for stage II or stage III non-small cell lung cancer.

Determine, preliminarily, the mechanism of action and activity of thalidomide against lung cancer.

Determine the 1-year and 2-year survival of patients treated with this regimen.

Determine the toxicity of this regimen in these patients.

Determine the operative mortality of patients treated with this regimen.

OUTLINE: This is a pilot study.

Patients receive carboplatin intravenously (IV) over 30 minutes on day 1, gemcitabine hydrochloride IV over 30 minutes on days 1 and 8, and oral thalidomide once daily on days 1-21. Treatment repeats every 21 days for 3 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Within 2-6 weeks after the completion of chemotherapy, patients with resectable tumors undergo surgical resection.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed every 3 months for 2 years.

Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:

18 Years and older (Adult, Senior)

Genders Eligible for Study:

Both

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

No

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

Histologically or cytologically confirmed non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), including any of the following histologic subtypes:

No nursing during and for ≥ 4 weeks after completion of study treatment

Positive pregnancy test

Fertile female patients must use 2 effective methods of contraception 4 weeks before, during, and for 4 weeks after completion of study treatment

Fertile male patients must use effective barrier contraception during and for 4 weeks after completion of study treatment

Blood, sperm, or ova donation during study treatment

Post obstructive pneumonia

Other serious infection or medical illness that would preclude study participation

Other malignancy within the past 5 years except adequately treated basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer, carcinoma in situ of the cervix, or other malignancy that is unlikely to affect survival for the next 3 years

Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below.
For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00281827